Collapsible tube contents dispenser having a winding key and rollers



June 16, 1953 c. A. LANE COLLAPSIBLE TUBE CONTENTS DISPENSER HAVING A WINDING KEY AND ROLLERS Filed May 26 1952 mmvm. CAARBYCE A. 1AM? tive relation to a slot position to eliminate interference is to bev removed.

Patented June 16; 1953 UNITED STA ES rnrs r OFFICE.

ooLLAPsiBLE TUBE CONTENTS DISPENSER HAVING A WINDING KEY AND ROLLERS Clarence A. Lane, Aldan, Pa. 7 Application May '26, 1952, Serial No. 290,006

My invention relates to a new and useful collapsible tube contents dispenser having a winding key and rollers and has for one of its objects to produce a simple and efiicientdispenser that will accommodate the various sizes of collapsible tubes now employed in the sale of tooth paste, shaving cream' and other kindred substances without the necessity of adjusting any elements of the structure.

Another object of the invention is to produce a dispenser of the kind mentioned wherein a pair of rollers are'utilized for expelling the tube contents as the latter is drawn between said tubes by the manipulation of a key of unique construction.

Another object of this invention is to' mount roams. (01. mass) the rollers in a novel manner whereby the use of springs or. other extraneous pressure producing'means and fasteners are dispensed with.

Another object of the present invention is to produce a dispenser for the contents of collapsible'tubes consistingof a casingopen at. thebot-v tom and including side walls having'grooves or furrows of novel formation in the inner "surfaces of said side walls to receive'the' terminals of the I roller axles or journals whereby said journals will be retained against accidental .displacemehtgthe journals of one'roller in particular being held in place through the cooperation of the collapsible .tube in the dispenser, said grooves opening; at

the edges of the casing their outer ends along side walls.

Another object of the invention is to provide a relatively narrow lateral opening in the closed upper portion ofthe casing'in cooperain one sidewall and a groove in the inner surface of the other side wall to receive a rotatable key and said narrow opening providing for the projection of'the closed end of a collapsible tube from-the inside ofthe 'cas ing' to the exterior thereof whereby the'keyfm'ay be readily applied to said tube being assembled in the casing.

Another'object of the invention is to incline the key receiving slot and groove whereby du-r prior to said key ing the operation of assembling the keyand co lapsible tube the latter may be held in a slanted of the rear rollerwith said tube.

A further object of this invention is to provide a finger-hole in the closed upper portion of the casing over the front roller forthe insertion of a persons finger to initiatethedislodgment of said front roller whenan empty tube A still further object of the present invention isto combine the several structural features cooperativelyinto a relatively inexpensive structure having a minimum of working'parts so interrelated that a full collapsible tube may be readily and easily'assembled in the dispensing structure, the contents efficiently dispensed in desired quantities and the empty tube quickly removed for replacement by a new full one.

With the above and other objects in view this invention consists of the details of construction I and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then designated by the claims. In order that those skilled in-the art to which this invention appertains may understand how to make and use the same I will describe its construction in detail referring by numerals to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the dispenser mounted on a support and showing a collapsible tubein position for attachment of the key thereto; a portion of .the key handle being broken oiT. I

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the dispenser with the tube in position for operation thereon.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same mounted on a support.

" Fig. Lisa-section on the line 4- i of Fig. 3 showing a part of the tube in elevation and in position for-operation thereon.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3. Y

Figkfi is a plan view of the blank from which the key'is produced.

In carrying out my invention as herein embodied I0 represents a casing including side walls H and'l2 supporting an integral cover l3 prefer'ab'ly in the form of an arch and consisting of a back wall portion M; a top wall portion l5 and a front wall portion I5 which terminates short of the lowere'dges of the side walls. This leaves the bottom and lower part oithe front of :the casing open for the passage of rollers to be later described and the :pendentprojectionof a collapsible tub.e.-

In the inner surface of'each side wall towards I or adjacent the rear of the casing is an inverted substantially J-shaped groove l! including an ubrightstem it, open at the edge of its respectiveside wall, and a rearwardly extending-hook I I9 terminating in a rounded. bearing surface suitably located between the top and bottom of The grooves in the two side walls;v are po'sitioned directly opposite each other and the casing.

the terminals of the axles or trunnions 2b of the roller 21 are mounted to revolve in the ends of the hook portions of said grooves by entering the trunnions in 'the'lower ends of the grooves; passing them around the bends in the grooves and I dropping them into the hook portions l9;

Another groove 22 is provided in the inner surface of each side wall and each groove 22 includes generally horizontal but downwardly bowed stem 23, open at the forward edge of its respective 3 side wall, and a short substantially vertical branch 24, extending upwardly from the inner or rear end of said stem, and terminating in a rounded bearing surface, preferably Slightly above the similar bearing surfaces of the hook portions (9 of the first mentioned grooves H. The grooves 22 in the two side walls of the casing are positioned directly opposite each other and the I terminals of the axles or trunnions 25 of the forward roller 25 are mounted to revolve in the short branches 24 against the rounded terminal bearing surfaces. The roller 26 is mounted by inserting the trunnions 25 thereof in the open ends of the grooves 22 at the front of the casing and then directing said trunnions into the short branches as will be more fully described below.

In the forward portion of the cover l3 above the forward roller 25 is a finger hole 21 for access to said forward roller 22, to dislodge the latter from the short branches of the slots 22 prior to removal for replacing an empty collapsible tube with a filled one.

Also in the cover 13 is a narrow lateral opening 28 to the rear of a vertical plane approximately midway between the front and rear of ends of the casing and communicating with a slot 29 in one side wall, as it), and a plain groove 30 in the inner surface of the other side wall as H. Both, said slot and plain groove 30 terminate in rounded bearing surfaces. The slot and plain groove are directly opposite each other in the opposite side walls and are angularly positioned to the vertical so as to slant forwardly to a location substantially midway between the front andrear ends of the casing above the rounded bearing surfaces of the grooves l1 and 22 and are equally spaced therefrom.

A key 34 is operatively mounted in the plain groove 3% and slot 29 from which one end projects and is comprised of a hollow tube having a longitudinal slot 32 in one side extending from its inner end and is provided with a handle 33 at its outer end for turning the key. This key may be produced from a sheet metal blank, Fig. 6, stamped out to form a long leg 34, a short body 35 slightly wider than said leg, a reduced neck 36 and a head 31. The leg, body and neck are formed into cylindrical shape with opposite edges of the body 35 in contact with each other thereby suitably spacing the longitudinal edges of the leg sufficiently to provide the slot 32 in the key. The curvature of the neck 35 blends into-the head 31 which remains substantially flat to constitute the key handle.

The slot 32 is of a width to receive the flattened end portion 38 of a collapsible tube 39 when slid into the slot from the inner open end thereof but is of less width than the folded-or equivalent sealing seam 40 so that when the flattened end of the tube is slid into the slot 32 of the key said tube will be held by the sealing seam against lateral removal from said slot 32 in the key. The casing may be supported in any suitable manner and for illustrative purposes, the rear wall portion M of the cover I3 is shown as provided with a mortise 4| to register with a pair of vertically spaced wood screws 42 or an equivalent dovetail tenon on a wall 43.

In practice, the front roll 26 and the key 3| are removed from the casing and the sealed end of the tube inserted in an angular position into the casing through the openbottom thereof and said sealed end projected through the narrow lateral opening 28 until a sufficient amount of the tube protrudes above the top of the cover to perm-it assembly of the key on the sealed end of the tube as previously described. Next, the key is directed into the slot 29 and the plain grooved!) until said key seats on the rounded bearing surfaces of said slot 29 and groove 30. Finally, the forward roller 28 is mounted in the opposed grooves 22 where it will roll to the low points of the bowed stems 23 of said grooves 22 and subsequently be forced into the vertical short groove branches 24 against the bias or repelling action of the tube 39 having some contents therein. The said forward roller is manually forced into the groove branches 24 by inserting the fingers through the open front and bottom of the casing assisted by a pulling action caused by turning the key to wind the sealed end of the tube thereon. This will compress the tube contents and cause a part of the tube to conform to portions of the circumferences of the rollers and produce a seat on said tube for the forward roller 26, Fig. 4, which will retain said forward roller in place and prevent accidental displacement thereof. This arrangement takes any size tube and holds it in place without any chance of it falling out.

When it is desired to expel any of the contents of the tube the key is turned clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 1, and the flattened end of said tubewill be wound on the key and pulled between the two rollers 2!, 26 to gradually collapse the tube and force the desired amount of contents therefrom through the mouth of the tube, it being understood that the closure cap 44 has first been removed. When substantially the entire contents has been expelled, the stiff or hard neck portion 45 of the tube will contact the rollers and prevent further operation on the tube then in the dispenser. To remove the empty tube, the operator inserts a finger through the finger hole 21 for engagement with the forward roller 26 permitting the application of suificient force to release said forward roller. Thereafter, the key can be lifted through the opening 28 in the top of the cover 13 and withdrawn from the sealed end of said tube or said key may be pulled 1 out through the slot 29 if the key is first reversed or turned counter-clockwise to loosen the tube winding.

It might be well to call attention to the fact that as the tube is wound on the key the latter is moved outwardly within the plain groove 30 and the slot 29 tocompensate for the additional space required for the coiled portion of the tube.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that I have produced a dispenser of the character described which is exceedingly simple in construc tion having a novel mode of operation and which the operating parts are completely enclosed, exceptfor the key handle, and wherein the forward roller is mounted and can be initially dislodged in a unique manner.

Of course I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction herein shown and described as these may be varied within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and useful is:

1. A collapsible tube contents dispenser comprising a casing including spaced side walls and a cover, a rear roller having axle ends mounted in inverted J-shaped grooves in the inner surfaces cf said side walls, said grooves comprised of stems with entrances at the lower edges of the side walls and rearwardly and downwardly extending hooks terminating in rounded bearing surfaces, a forward roller having axle ends mounted in other grooves in the inner surfaces of said side walls, said other grooves comprised of generally horizontal downwardly bowed stems with entrances at the forward edges of the side walls and short upwardly extending branches at inner ends of the stems and said branches terminating in rounded bearing surfaces, and a tubular key mounted in a plain groove in the inner surface of one side wall and a coinciding slot in the opposite side wall, said plain groove and slot communicating with a narrow lateral opening in the cover through which the flattened sealed end of a collapsible tube may be projected for connection with the key and also through which the-key is passed for entrance into said plain groove and slot, said key provided with a longitudinal slot leading from the inner end thereof adapted to receive the flattened sealed end of the collapsible tube by sliding said key thereon and said key slot being of less width than the tube seal to prevent dropping of the tube from the key.

2. The dispenser according to claim 1 wherein the plain groove and casing slot slant downwardly and forwardly from lateral opening whereby the key with a collapsible tube attached thereto may be entered into said groove and slot and the tube slid over the rear roller while the forward roller is displaced.

'3. The dispenser according to claim 1 wherein the cover has a finger hole therein above the 10- cation of the forward roller whereby the latter may be given an initial dislodging push by a persons finger inserted through the finger hole.

4. A collapsible tube contents dispenser comprising a casing including spaced side walls and an arched cover to close the back, top and a portion of the front of said casing leaving the bottom and lower portion of the front open, said side walls having inverted J-shaped grooves in the inner surfaces thereof comprised of'st'ems open at the lower edges of said side walls with slot and plain groove terminating in rounded bearing surfaces spaced equi-distant from and above the bearing surfaces of the first two sets of grooves, a key mounted in said plain groove and slot and to which a collapsible tubeis attached to be wound about said key for dispensing the contents of said tube, a rear roller having trun-. 1

nions mounted in the bearing surfaces of the first mentioned grooves by entrance into the open ends thereof, and a forward roller having trunnions mounted against the bearing surfaces of the second mentioned grooves by entrance into the open ends thereof and forcibly projected past a portion of the collapsible tube which forms a seat for said forward roller and the cover having a finger hole above said forward roller whereby the latter may be given an initial dislodging push by a persons finger inserted through said finger hole.

CLARENCE A. LANE.

No references cited. 

